18 JUNE 2005, page 26

Downhill All The Way?

Richard Dowden T HE S TATE OF A FRICA : A H ISTORY OF F IFTY Y EARS OF INDEPENDENCE by Martin Meredith The Free Press, £20, pp. 752, ISBN 0743232216 ✆ £18 (plus £2.25 p&p) 0870......

A Century Of Riding High

Mark Archer M EDICI M ONEY : B ANKING , M ETAPHYSICS AND A RT IN F IFTEENTH -C ENTURY F LORENCE by Tim Parks Profile Books, £15.99, pp. 273, ISBN 1861977913 ✆ £13.99 (plus £2.25......